Fountain toothbrush



Oct. 16, 1956 c. s. DURRETT 2,766,472

FOUNTAIN TOOTHBRUSH Filed Jan. 50, 1953 Char/es .5. Our/eff INVENTOR.

United States v Patent FOUNTAIN TOOTI-IBRUSH Charles S. Durrett, Covington, Ky., assignor of one-half to Harry K. Aurandt, Covington, Ky.

Application January 30, 1953, Serial No. 334,230

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-138) This invention relates to a toothbrush and more particularly to a toothbrush of the fountain type.

An object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush wherein movement between the head and the remainder of the brush affects common valve mechanism to selectively open or close the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush of the fountain type which is composed of a minimum number of parts and yet which is fully effective to produce the desired results.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush wherein relative rotation between the head and the remainder of the brush actuates a valve mechanism to selectively open or close the same for dispensing dental cleanser to the bristles of the brush head.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toothbrush embodying a head assembly adapted to be attached to a conventional paste dispensing tube;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of section line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the device as shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section taken substantially along the plane of section line 44 of Figure 2 and showing the opened and closed positions of the valve mechanism in full and dotted lines, respectively;

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section taken substantially along the plane of section line 55 of Figure 2 and showing the latching means.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1-3, reference numeral indicates generally a conventional paste dispensing tube which is provided with a closure element 12 at one end thereof and whose other end is provided with a collar 14 and a threaded dispensing neck 16 through which paste 18 within the tube may be expressed by manually squeezing the tube. Reference numeral 20 indicates generally a toothbrush head stem assembly which is provided at one surface 22 thereof with a plurality of tufts or bristles 24 and with a plurality of discharge openings 26 extending transversely of the head. Extending longitudinally of the head is a recess 28 which terminates adjacent the free end 30 of the head in an enlarged portion 32, and the discharge openings 26 communicate with the recess.

A discharge nozzle 34 is disposed snugly within the recess and is provided at one end with a head 36 which is deformed to engage against the head within the enlarged recess 32, as at 38, to prevent lateral displacement of the nozzle with respect to the head. A bore 40 extends longitudinally of the nozzle and apertures 42 provided in the nozzle in register with the discharge openings 26 communicate with the bore and with the bristle surface 22. The free end of the nozzle is provided with an enlarged portion 44 Whose outer surface is corrugated or serrated and which is provided with an internally threaded opening in communication with bore 40 for the reception of the dispensing tube neck 16. In this manner, the head assembly may be attached to a dispensing tube and bore 40 presents a chamber for the reception of dental paste pressed from the tube.

Recess 28 and nozzle 34 are of circular cross-section so that the nozzle and head may be rotated with respect to each other to selectively position the apertures 42 into and out of register with discharge openings 26 to enable a user to dispense paste upon the bristles as desired.

To prevent accidental rotational displacement of the head with respect to the nozzle, the enlarged portion 44 or neck of the nozzle is provided with a latching projection 46 which is projectible within a detent 48 in head 20 to hold the apertures 42 out of register with openings 26 during brushing operations. Since the head is cut away, as indicated by the reference numeral 50, the projection 46 will not engage the head when the nozzle and head are rotated to dispensing position.

In this construction, when it is desired to use the assembly as a brush. it is merely necessary to rotate the head so that the projection 46 is out of engagement with detent 48 and in the position shown in Figure 1 wherein discharge openings 26 are in communication with bore 40 through the apertures 42. Paste may then be dispensed from the tube 10 to the bristles by merely squeezing the tube and when the desired amount of paste has been dispensed, it is merely necessary to rotate the head to the dotted line position shown in Figure 4 wherein apertures 42 are out of alignment with the discharge openings 26 so as to prevent further dispensing operation from the tube 10 to the bristles 24.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A toothbrush comprising a horizontally elongated head having bristles on a lower surface, said head including a longitudinal circular bore terminating at its inner end in an enlarged annular recess, said bore including a plurality of radially disposed discharge openings extending through said lower surface providing communication with said bore, a tubular nozzle received in said bore and having an annular shoulder at one end rotatably received in the enlarged recess of said circular bore, said nozzle including radial apertures selectively registerable with the radial discharge openings in said head, said nozzle terminating in an annular enlarged collar at the end opposite the enlarged annular shoulder, said head having an end surface abutting the adjacent surface of said annular collar, a projection on said annular collar extending toward said end surface of said head, and a detention on said end surface of the head engageable upon rotation with said projection to latch the head and nozzle in a fixed position wherein said discharge openings in said head'aiidthe'apertures registcrable therewith in said nozzle are-'outof communication.

2. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 1 wherein said annular collar includes an annular recess, said recess being threaded for removably receiving a tube of dental paste.

Newton July-24; 1877 4 Hitz Mar. 16, 1909 Hitz' Oct. 25, l9l0- Tate Jan. 16, 19l2 Nielsen Dec. 19, 1933 Boysen Oct. 22, 1940 Anderson May 19, 1953 Wiseman Oct. 27, 1953 

